Festival of Cooling

Photography competition rules

Terms and conditions

1. Eligibility and Entry

  • The competition is free to enter and open to all individuals, except those working for the Clean Cooling Network.
  • You must be a resident of Rwanda
  • Entrants may submit up to 3 original photographs.
  • Submissions are open from 28 August to 25 September 2025.
  • By submitting, you confirm acceptance of these rules and grant ACES permission to use your submission in exhibitions, publications, media, and online platforms with credit to the artist.

2. Submission Guidelines

  • Photographs must have been taken in 2024 or 2025.
  • Please provide the best quality jpeg your device can capture.
  • Light editing is allowed. Adding or removing objects in your image is not permitted.
  • Unfortunately, we do not accept AI generated images.
  • Submissions must not:
    • Depict or promote violence, hate, nudity, or obscenity
    • Include public or political figures
    • Contain political messages or propaganda
    • Include content likely to cause public offence or legal dispute

3. File Handling and Responsibility

  • ACES will handle all files responsibly and securely, but cannot be held liable for:
    • Corrupted, incomplete, or lost files
    • Technical failures during file upload or submission
  • Entrants are responsible for ensuring that files are complete, readable, and properly formatted at the time of upload.

4. Judging and Prizes

  • Entries will be judged on creativity and composition, and relevance to cooling and cold chain.
  • The decision of the judging panel is final.
  • Prizes:
    • First Prize – RWF 300,000
    • Second Prize – RWF 150,000
    • Third Prize – RWF 120,000
  • Winners will be announced on 9th October 2025 at the ACES campus in Rubirizi.

5. Image Rights and Use

  • Entrants retain full copyright of their work.
  • By entering, you grant ACES a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to use your image:
    • In the Festival exhibitions and displays
    • On the Clean Cooling Network (CCN) website and other media platforms as well as on the CCN partners ’websites and other media platforms
    • In educational and promotional materials
    • In publications and media
  • ACES will always credit the photographer where possible.

6. Legal and Content Assurance

  • If your image features identifiable individuals, you must have permission from those individuals to publish their likeness.
  • Entrants must ensure appropriate consent has been handled, particularly with vulnerable people and children.
  • If you are under 18, parental or guardian consent is required.
  • You agree to indemnify ACES and its partners against any claims, disputes, or reputational damage resulting from your submission—including, but not limited to:
    • Copyright infringement
    • Use of offensive or illegal imagery
    • Violations of privacy
    • Defamation or contempt

7. Final Notes

  • These rules are subject to change in case of unforeseen circumstances; any changes will be communicated publicly.
  • Photographers whose image(s) are shortlisted will be asked to show the original file, therefore, we can reproduce the best possible quality.

 

Enter Photography Competition

Photography competition

Use the power of photography to reflect cooling in day-to-day life

Open to all ages, this is your chance to show us how cooling touches your world, whether that's through:

  • preserving food freshness
  • protecting vaccines and medicines
  • powering livelihoods
  • enabling innovation
  • simply bringing people together

Closing date, 1st of October. Winners will be announced at the Festival of Cooling on the 9th of October 2025.

* You are required to agree to all competition terms & conditions during registration.

CCN Photography competition

The power of photography

Open now! 

Using any type of camera, show us how cooling shapes your daily life and the world around you.

ACES

#FestivalOfCooling

ACES Rubirizi Campus
290 KK 18 Avenue, Kigali, Rwanda
[email protected]

X:  @ACES_Cooling
Instagram: aces_cooling
 

What will I learn?

This is in part a science fair, part an art show, part an ideas’ marketplace, part a music festival, part a networking ground, while remaining wholly an immersive celebration of sustainable cooling.

We aim to merge formal learning with informal discovery and lots of hands-on experience throughout the week. Come and join us to find out answers to a range of cooling questions you have always wondered about.

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40% of food is lost between production and consumption in sub-Saharan Africa

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Two official pre-festival competitions will give visual storytellers and innovators a chance to put their perspectives and products in front of an audience that matters: the “Photography Competition” and the “Startup Pitch Competition”.

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